Board attorney Michael Fanning and plaintiffs' attorney Gideon Carter said they expect the hearing to be reset for the first week of August, allowing time for Fanning to seek board approval of a settlement and for Carter to seek agreement from his clients, the families that first filed suit in 1964.

"The attorneys for all sides have negotiated a settlement of the case," Carter said. He and Fanning declined to discuss details fo the agreement.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt had scheduled a hearing for 8:30 a.m. today, during which he could have ruled on concluding some or all of the Dandridge lawsuit -- the signature case for school integration in Jefferson Parish -- but Fanning and Carter said the judge called it off late Tuesday as the two sides continued to talk.